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NEW YORK — Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians and Clint Hurdle of the Pittsburgh Pirates
won the Manager of the Year awards yesterday after guiding their small-budget teams to
turnarounds.

Francona edged John Farrell of the World Series champion Boston Red Sox for the American League
honor, 112 points to 96 in a vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

It was the first Manager of the Year honor for Francona, who steered the Red Sox to World Series
titles in 2004 and 2007. In his first season with the Indians, he directed them to a 24-win
improvement and their first playoff spot in six years.

Francona never received a first-place vote during eight seasons as manager of the Red Sox. He
had never finished higher than fourth in 12 years as a big-league manager. His Indians lost the AL
wild-card game to Tampa Bay this year. Voting is conducted before the postseason.

“This was one of the funnest years I’ve ever had,” Francona said in an interview on MLB
Network.

“It gives me a chance to brag about our organization,” he said. “When you get an award like
this, it’s a representation of an organization. I’ll gladly accept it, but it’s for all those
people.”

Hurdle was a runaway winner, selected first on 25 of 30 ballots by the NL panel after taking the
Pirates to the playoffs in their first winning season since 1992.

Don Mattingly of the Los Angeles Dodgers came in second and Fredi Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves
finished third.

“It’s a bit overwhelming, to tell you the truth,” Hurdle said. “It’s humbling. It’s gratifying
from an organizational standpoint.”

It also was the first Manager of the Year honor for the 56-year-old Hurdle.

Pittsburgh beat the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card game before losing to league champion St.
Louis in a division series that went five games.